I'm Col. A Free Wilder, but also known as Forest Horizons the mushroom foraging leader and teacher. I love wild food foraging! Nature connections is so important. This year I have had the absolute pleasure of teaching mushroom foraging at a few British Naturism events, combining my passions for nature connections with body positivity. Fabulous!! But if you fancy coming on a 'normal' forage, in other words, a fully clothed one (they're in autumn. Its colder. I'm a naturist, not a mad man! Wrap up warm please ha ha!) then check out my forages, there may be one near you.
On mushroom foraging and naturism, by Colin Unsworth.
A woodland walk on a late summers afternoon as the suns rays filter through the leaves, listening to the muted sounds of the forest and looking for a prize in the undergrowth to add to your basket. This is connecting with nature in the best possible way. Slow paced and noticing ones surroundings, understanding the fungi in the ground and on the logs helps one to understand the connections and support networks in the forest around me. With nothing but boots on my feet to help me walk unhindered through the leaves and twigs underfoot and my hat on my head because I feel naked without it, I feel connected as the cool atmosphere of the woodland against almost every inch of my body makes me feel alive and in the moment. Mycorrhizal species of fungi live in association with the trees, helping them to gain nutrients from the soil and in return getting food. The saprotrophic fungi, decaying the dead tree and plant matter and enriching the soils, once noticed it becomes obvious that there is mushroom mycorrhiza everywhere managing and enriching the forest life.
I teach foraging. In the autumn season I host mushroom walks and people come along, fascinated to learn about edible species. We start with a gin…. Why not? Gin samples that I’ve made from wild ingredients. From traditional flavours like Sloe to unusual ones like pine cone gin that tastes like Christmas. Then off we go into the forest, clothed because not all the punters would be comfortable clothes free, but one day I’ll assemble a group of foragers who are happy to roam the woods naked, yet on my own or with a couple of like minded friends my preferred attire is my natural one. I feel free and at one with nature that way. I have always enjoyed being in the woods. As a child it was my escape and a place where I could be whoever I wanted to be. I was lucky enough to have miles of woodland at the back of my garden, some of which dated back to the Norman Conquest. Scouts taught me things that these days would be called Bushcraft, and I used to dream of living in the woods like some sort of medieval hermit. Society wants to shape and mould us into citizens, and it is very alluring as we grow up and want status and acceptance, but it doesn’t quite allow us to be our natural selves; for some of us our life force is squashed into a mould we do not belong in. For me, shedding my clothes is like shedding the expectations and judgements of society, without them I am free and finally me.
There are of course some things to consider when foraging naked, not least the public you might encounter! Foraging far from other humans is a joy, but we live in a crowded land and there are plenty other people who also enjoy the peace and tranquility of the woods so I have encountered a few people whilst foraging. I used to be shy and would leap out of the way as if I had been caught doing something wrong, but these days I just use my basket holding in front of me to hide my sensitive areas and give a shy smile with a “hello, sorry!” and most folks just smile back with obvious amusement. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but so far I’ve encountered no harsh negativity other than once when I braved a stretch of road on my bike to get between woodlands and a irate lady shouted “you’ll cause an accident!”. With hindsight, I realised that I should have said “why thank you!”.
Other considerations are brambles and the nettles to contend with but they also posses hidden ancient remedies that might make one less afraid if one understands them. Nettle stings are good for you, though I’m not suggesting you go looking for a patch of nettles to run through naked! From Roman times nettle stings have been recognised for their health benefits. A nettle rash can help reduce the inflammation and pain of an arthritic joint, and they also stimulate the immune system and help to protect you from hay fever. This type of remedy is called Urtication, from the scientific name for the nettle plant Urtica dioica. It’s easy to remember because it ‘urts!’ Insect stings? Well people often walk with bare arms, legs and chests without worrying about that. If the sun is shining strongly there is no better place to be than under the dappled shade of the woodland canopy amongst the wild things. We need more woodland, more natural habitats. I have a passion for all things rewilding. As a forager, and especially a mushroom forager, it is obvious to me when I am in an ancient or untouched habitat compared to a human ‘managed’ one. You can plant a variety of trees, but it takes a long time for the biodiversity to become truly well established. Although there are some pioneer species of edible mushroom, a forest doesn’t give up a bounty of porcini and many other prize edibles until the trees have been there a good while, a centuary or so. Meadows do not produce Meadow waxcap mushrooms if they have had industrial “improvement programs” like fertilizers and pesticides that are designed with monoculture in mind. Waxcaps, said to be the orchids of the mushroom world with their beautiful colours, can be wiped out for the next 50 years with just one treatment of fertilizer on a field. I have always believed that we could live in greater harmony with the nature around us, and as I have been growing, up movements like Permaculture and Incredible Edible have given us ideas about how to do that. Rewilding is bigger. It isn’t just how to manage your allotment, though that is a part of it. Rewilding Britain's website says “THINK BIG”. They see a vision of large tracts of the UK returned to natural habitat. As a forager I am acutely aware of how depleted our woodlands are. When I go abroad I see wooded areas that stretch as far as the eye can see, but we cut our forests centuries ago. King Henry VIII felled two thirds of our forests to make ships then the industrial revolution saw us burning almost all the rest. We are one of the most forest depleted countries of the temperate zone and if you couple this with the areas of land that have been sprayed with pesticides for decades it is little wonder that we have lost 25% of our flying insects. We often call them ‘pests’, but we wont when they’ve gone! Rewilding is our best chance of surviving the challenges of climate change, and we need to act fast.
Last year, feeling brave after a few walks out, we decided to leave all our clothes in my camper and walk truly clothes free through the Peak District woodlands and it was a beautiful experience. We foraged edible mushrooms, Porcini and Blushers and Grey Amanitas and lots of Milk caps and Brittle gills. We also foraged some medicinal herbs like the ever so slightly intoxicating mugwort. We walked through the woods and out into the open fields, we rested on a hillside and by the end felt brave enough for a walk back down the country roads. We were free and felt like wild things for an afternoon and it was a beautiful experience. We will definitely do it again one warm and sunny late summers day this year.
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